knoppix 3.2 on compaq presario r3200 notebook PROBLEM...

[ckamin]

I did forget to mention another option or two. You can get an adaptor to hook up you Laptop HDD to an IDE cable and hook it up to a desktop system and retrieve files that way. You can also get a USB to IDE adaptor cable and hook it up externally by way of USB2 and retrieve your files. An adaptor for 5.25, 3.5, and 2.5 inch drives looks like the ones descibed in the following links.: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812156101 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812107114 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812156001 There are many available, but if you are looking to hook up a 2.5 inch laptop drive, be sure the one you get supports it, or at least make sure to get an adaptor if it is compatible. The adaptor looks like the one in the following link and you can find these for as little as $5 US, plus shipping.: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812116211

[kel333]

Thanks to all for the options, I have now recovered my files by transferring over wireless to my desktop via the Samba network application in knoppix!

I have reinstalled xp home now also on the Notebook, but leaving about a 3 gig unformatted partition should I decide to install knoppix or another Linux based Distro to hard disk at some point. As yet, I am undecided about which Linux Distro togo with...

My notebook does have 512mb Ram, which is sufficient I think to run knoppix in ram, as suggested...

As a musician, my decision as to which distro to use will be biased according to which Distro has the best Audio Distro packages available on it...Judging by a Linux forum I have been visiting recently, there are quite a few to choose from...

Slackware seems to have quite a few Audio packages that run on it...

[ckamin]

I have now recovered my files by transferring over wireless to my desktop via the Samba network application in knoppix!

That's great! The hard part is done.

My notebook does have 512mb Ram, which is sufficient I think to run knoppix in ram, as suggested

Mine has 1024Meg and it works with the "toram" option. I would suspect that you would need at least enough to hold the CD (about 700Meg) and then a little more for overhead. I have not tried it using 512, but it would probably only work if there were a big enough swap file.

there are quite a few to choose from...

You might want to browse here: www.distrowatch.com www.linux.org You can get good information about a distro from these sources, once you have identified a few of interest.

Glad to see your issue resolved and your system back up. Good luck on the Audio Applications. Let me know if you find something worthwhile. I have some friends that might find something like that useful.

Good Luck!